Inching towards Fall

This week, Br. Robert James was on retreat at the New Skete monastery in Cambridge, New York with our missionary friends from Argentina. This coming week, they are spending some vacation time on Cape Cod.

We hosted an aspirant for a two-week visit that ended Wednesday. It's always a rich encounter to have a new man discover us on the enclosure side and for us to get to know him a bit better.

Brothers Bob and Max were at an Inter-Religious Formation Program, at Mount Alvernia, a Franciscan retreat center in nearby Wappinger Falls. This program has novices and postulants of various religious orders (us and mostly Roman Catholics) meet from time-to-time for themed addresses and workshops and companionship. This formation event explored relationships in families of origin and communities of choice.

From top, clockwise: some of our great Guest House staff who make our hospitality possible; from left, Bob Morano and Melissa Short (our chefs), Jamy Hermance and Tim Consavage (our pantry staff); a hummingbird visiting the porch geraniums that Br. Josép cares for; Brothers Aidan and Josép planting a new tree near the Guest House kitchen.

We are awaiting the completion of our sacristy renovation; one of our many Open Doors, Open Hearts Capital Campaign Project. It's going to look great and work so much better than our tired old previous sacristy. I promise pictures when we move back in. In the meantime, here are maybe the last pictures of our temporary "Sacristy in a Conservatory."

Preparing for Sunday morning mass. Brothers Aidan and John helping each other vest for the liturgy.

A few weeks ago I started a weight-lifting and aerobics exercize regimen to improve my general health and fitness level. It is good to be reminded in practice of all the benefits of exercize. I lift dumbbells three times a week and do high intensity interval aerobic training three times a week. I hope it will make me fitter for next year's Celtic Pilgrimage with Br. Josép in Scotland and England in June.

All this is possible thanks to our new gym in the old novitiate chapel in the 1966 enclosure (a much larger room than the cramped unused cell where we had a couple of machines earlier). We have added a new threadmill and spin bike to our rowing and elliptical machines. And we have completed our haphazard collection of dumbbells to enable intensity progression in our workouts. I'm glad to say that I know of at several brothers who are regularly using the gym. "Build it and they will come!"

Wishing you a fit Fall (better than a fall fit ;-).